Barnet’s FA Cup journey came to a halt as they were soundly beaten 4-1 at home by Newport County in their second round replay at the Hive on Tuesday.

Both sides started with intent, but it was the away side who raced into the lead after just six minutes.

After some impressive build-up down the left hand side between Newport wing-back Shane McLoughlin and striker Omar Bogle, the latter fired the ball across the Barnet box with Lewis Payne completely unmarked and able to slot home from close range.

Dean Brennan’s side then went further behind a few minutes later as Bogle turned provider to goalscorer and finished off a brilliantly executed team move to put the Welsh side into a comfortable 2-0 lead.

After just 25 minutes, Barnet’s FA Cup nightmare got even worse as last week’s here Danny Collinge headed into his own net over the onrushing Laurie Walker to put Newport into a resounding 3-0 lead.

Looking dejected and bereft of confidence, the home side looked to respond with better utilisation of wing-backs Harry Pritchard and Jordan Cropper and reduced the deficit on 37 minutes.

A whipped corner dropped in front of Newport keeper Nick Townsend and the lively Pritchard – who had been Barnet’s biggest threat on the night – scrambled the ball into the net to give Brennan’s side some hope.

The second half kicked off with the visitors in the ascendency and they might have restored their three-goal lead when Bogle fired just wide of Walker’s goal from a tight angle after Collinge had lost the ball on the edge of the area.

The Bees refused to let their heads drop however and piled on the pressure with Idris Kanu looking the most likely.

Just five minutes after the restart, the winger dropped a shoulder and drove beyond the Newport midfield, firing a deflected effort inches wide of the target.

The Bees then started to pile on the pressure and could have pulled another goal back when goalscorer Pritchard’s effort was palmed onto the post by Newport keeper Nick Townsend, but it didn’t take long for Countyto complete the rout and seal a third-round tie with Eastleigh.

From a sustained period of pressure from the Bees, the ball broke on the edge of the Newport box and was lofted towards the Barnet goal. Collinge was then beaten for pace as the excellent Seb Palmer Houldon latched on to the ball and finished exquisitely beyond Walker. 

Despite some promising signs in the second half, the Bees never really looked a threat after that knockout blow and were soundly beaten on the night, meaning Brennan’s side will look to Saturday’s fixture away at Ebbsfleet United to bounce back from such a disappointing result.